


Merry Birthday

by jaerie



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alpha Harry, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Beta Niall Horan, Birthday, Birthday Party, Christmas Decorations, Christmas Eve, Christmas Party, Drunkenness, M/M, Misunderstandings, Omega Louis, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates, soul marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 22:00:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17149844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaerie/pseuds/jaerie
Summary: Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson have unfortunate soulmarks branded onto their skin.  The first words their soulmate will ever speak to them are two of the most common greetings, so common that they don't even notice when it finally happens for real.A Christmas soulmate AU.





	Merry Birthday

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AFangirlFantasy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AFangirlFantasy/gifts).



> I asked for a Christmas prompt and here is one of the ones that was thrown at me! If you sent me one as well, I am still trying to work more out before the season is over!
> 
>  
> 
> **I hate that this has to be said but here we go. I do not allow any of my works to be translated or reposted to any platform. This includes, but is not limited to, Wattpad, Tumblr, other AO3 accounts. Reposting and “giving credit” is not an authorized use of my content. Any translations or reposted material will be reported immediately.**

* * *

 

 

 

Christmas.  The most wonderful time of the year– for everyone but Harry Styles, anyway.  For Harry it was the worst, most dreaded time of the year since he’d learned to read.  Every fifty weeks Harry entered a time when he tried his best to avoid the public and the pleasantries that came with the season.  He’d all but boycotted anything to do with the holiday save for the family dinner and the presents exchanged between them. 

It was just easier when his soul mark spelled out the most common holiday greeting.  Merry Christmas was branded around his wrist as the first words his soulmate would speak to him which just so happened to be the same words every store clerk, stranger, coworker, boss, and even bill collector started and ended interactions with for the weeks flanking December 25th.  Over the years he had gone from bright eyed and hopeful with each uttering to adopting a bitter scrooge outlook. His family had made a joke out of calling him the Grinch and the themed presents they gave him each year never seemed to get old to them. 

Harry was indifferent about his family’s teasing, immune to it at twenty-six years old.  It was the rest of the world that bothered him. He’d learned quickly to cover his mark with thick bracelets to avoid teasing from his schoolmates and then coworkers.  It was just easier to avoid it all together. His friends in uni that knew about his mark had always pushed him to go out around the holidays, setting him up on blind dates with every omega they knew and forcing him to go to every Christmas party they found.

That had been when he’d started to become a hermit as soon as the Christmas lights came out and holiday songs started playing on the radio.  He’d used the excuse of his rut to stay home so many times that he knew no one believed him anymore. Most of his friends had taken the hint by now and respected Harry’s hatred of the season.  

It was Friday, the weekend of Christmas, and Harry was about ready to rip the phone cord out of the wall.  Life went on even if Harry tried to ignore it which meant he had been forced to speak with his clients just like any normal day.  Of course that also meant each one wishing him a merry Christmas as they ended their call and had Harry dropping his forehead to his desk with a groan each time.  He loved his job every other time of the year and even enjoyed most of his clients. The company he worked for designed and maintained websites, mostly for small businesses, and he’d developed great working relationships.  He’d pondered telling everyone he was Jewish after the first year of Christmas cards and greetings, but that felt disrespectful to the religion he didn’t even know that much about. 

Forcing fake smiles and hiding the hints annoyance from his voice was draining and he couldn’t wait to drive home with his own Christmas-free music and relax on the couch watching Netflix to avoid all the Christmas themed commercials that plagued regular tv.  

It was finally almost five and all of his coworkers were packing up to head over to the company Christmas party that Harry was absolutely not attending.  

“Hey Harry,” Niall, his coworker turned friend, stuck his head into Harry’s office wearing a ridiculous sequined elf hat and shoes to match, “Want to come to a party with me tomorrow?” 

“Can’t.  Rut.” Short and straight to the point.  

“Fuck off, I know you’re lying.  Just come! I know you’re not going home until Christmas morning and it will be a good time!” 

“You know I don’t do Christmas parties.”  Harry let out a heavy sigh and then dragged his hands down his face with a groan when Niall didn’t let it go.  

“But it’s not a Christmas party!!  It’s a  _ birthday _ party!”  Niall hopped up to sit on the edge of Harry’s desk and grabbed his cupcake shaped stress ball.

“Jesus’ birthday parties still count as Christmas parties,” Harry rolled his eyes and snatched his toy back to replace it in its spot under his monitor.  

“No, I swear it’s a birthday party!  A friend of mine is throwing it. His birthday is on Christmas eve and he always throws a big party since his birthday always got overshadowed when he was a kid.  It’s a perfect way for you to avoid Christmas! Plus he works for IHeartRadio so he always has the best music and the coolest guests. I promise you’ll have fun!” 

Niall was practically begging by the end of his pitch and Harry’s underlying annoyance at his persistence was overshadowed by Niall’s enthusiasm.  It was like saying no to an excited child. 

“You promise it’s not a Christmas party?”  Harry reluctantly let his dreams of a peaceful night in head for the door.  

“I promise!  Plus you’ll love Louis.  He works with that omega organization your mom volunteers with.  We met a few years ago when I won that battle of the bands competition you flaked out on.” 

“Are you ever going to let that go?  I was  _ actually _ in rut that time.”

Harry rolled his eyes and started to put his files away for long weekend they were heading into.  

“It’s not a valid excuse!” 

“Just because you’re a beta that doesn’t have to deal with these things doesn’t mean they don’t exist.  Did you want me to get arrested for indecent exposure in the middle of your set?” 

“It would have made things more interesting,” Niall shrugged and tapped the balls of his feet against the floor to make the jingle bells on his elf shoes rattle.  It was more annoying than his Christmas sweater that said Bah Humbeta!

“Get out of my office with your Christmas spirit,” Harry pushed at his hip to slide him off the edge of the desk until he finally stood up.  

“Okay okay I’m going! Bah humbug to you, too!”  He headed towards the door but turned around to take the last few steps backwards. “But tomorrow.  You, me, birthday party. I’ll pick you up at seven.” 

Harry rolled his eyes again but nodded, already trying to come up with an excuse to back out.  

 

⛄⛄⛄

 

It was cold with large fluffy snowflakes drifting down from the sky like a Hallmark Christmas scene and all Harry wanted to do was curl up in an oversized hoodie and watch old seasons of The Real Omegas of Orange County until he fell asleep to the flickering flames of his fake fireplace.  

Instead he was trudging down the block with Niall to a party he didn’t want to go to trying not to freeze his balls off.  The street was packed with cars parked along each side and it had been difficult to even find the spot that they had ended up parking in.  It was in front of a fire hydrant and blocking part of someone’s driveway and Harry really hoped the car would still be there when they decided to leave.  It wasn’t his car so he hadn’t argued when Niall had insisted it would be fine. The house had been dark so perhaps they were away for Christmas. 

Christmas.  The exact thing Harry was trying to avoid and it didn’t look promising as they approached the large house that was covered from roof to porch with blinking coloured Christmas lights and a yard full of light up deer and blow up Christmas characters.  

“I thought you said this wasn’t a Christmas party,” Harry said flatly as soon as they were standing in the driveway.  

“It’s not!  I swear!” 

Niall grabbed his arm and started to drag Harry towards the house that was already thumping with music.  Mariah Carey’s  _ All I Want For Christmas Is You  _ was recognizable before they even opened the door and Harry heaved a heavy sigh.  Of course Niall conned him into coming to a Christmas party and he had fallen for it.  He’d make a round through the crowd, make an appearance, get his buzz on with some free drinks and then take an Uber home.  He’d text Niall a goodbye once he was safely in his pajamas in front of his tv. 

“Ha! See! I told you it was a birthday party!” Niall exclaimed once they’d stepped inside and pointed enthusiastically to a large peg holding green and red frosted donuts with large capital letters reading “LOUIS IS ANOTHER YEAR OLDER!”

“Yeah, a  _ Christmas themed _ birthday party,” Harry muttered and openly scowled at everyone in festive sweaters and stupid reindeer headbands.  Someone was walking around slipping blinking Christmas light necklaces over everyone’s head like leis at a luau and it took all of his restraint to not throw his down to the floor and crush it with his chelsea boot.  Instead he slipped his over Niall’s neck who was definitely enjoying everything a lot more than him. 

“What’s your deal with Christmas anyway?” Niall asked above the music while they made their way through the crowd to find some drinks.  

“It’s a long story.  I don’t really want to talk about it,” he grumbled and took the cup passed to him.  

As he took a swig, Harry nearly gagged on the thick milky liquid he wasn’t expecting and looked down into the cup with disgust.  He hated eggnog even if it was the type with alcohol. 

“I can’t drink this shit,” Harry wrinkled his nose and handed it back to Niall who chugged it back like nothing.  “That was fucking disgusting. Don’t ever do that in front of me again.” 

Niall threw his head back and cackled, unaffected by Harry’s gagging.  Harry just rolled his eyes and stepped around him to get to the cranberry vodka sitting on the table.  It was better than nothing. He mixed himself a cocktail in a red solo cup and sipped on it as he wandered away from the kitchen.  

It was like Harry’s own personal hell moving from room to room with over the top decorations and a differently themed tree in each.  How anyone could consider it a birthday party, Harry had no idea. The whole house was packed, though, so apparently this Louis really was popular.  It made Harry’s head swim to be in the presence of so many alphas, the gender that seemed to make up a majority of the guests. He wasn’t a very territorial alpha, having decided to wait for his soulmate at a young age, but it didn’t stop his senses from picking up on it.  On top of all the competing scents, the signature holiday smell of pine and spice scented candles threatened to give him a migraine if he stuck around much longer. 

Harry was pleasantly tipsy and just about to pull his phone out to request an Uber when Niall appeared at his side and steered him towards the DJ corner of the large living room.  

“Harry!  This is Louis!” Niall yelled over the music, spinning the other around to face him.  

There was silver tinsel draped around his neck like a scarf and a santa hat on his head.  He was also wearing an obnoxious Christmas sweater with little flashing lights and santa print leggings that hugged up his thick thighs and curvy hips.  The outfit was absolutely ridiculous down to the words knitted around the lights that said “We Wish You Omega Christmas!” and it was actually painful for Harry to hold back the urge to roll his eyes.  

“Happy birthday!” Harry shouted at the same time Louis exclaimed “Merry Christmas!” 

It was the first time anyone had said it to him that night and his wrist started to itch with the annoying reminder of why he hated Christmas to begin with.  He scratched at it through his bundle of bracelets and gave Louis a tight lipped smile. It wasn’t his fault that that his words made Harry want to punch him in the face.  He could hold himself back with practiced patience until he was far enough away to let his true emotions show. 

Louis was just staring at him with glassy eyes, swaying just slightly on his feet until someone came up from behind to hug him around his middle and swirl the birthday boy around.  Harry took the moment of distraction to slip away, shivering at the bottom of the drive as he waited for his Uber to arrive. 

 

⛄⛄⛄

 

“I think I’m dying,” Louis groaned into the phone while his head pounded with each sound that came back at him through the speaker.  

“Every year we push Christmas dinner back so you can enjoy your birthday party and every year you try to skip out because you’re too hungover.  So this is your wake up call. It is already noon so you have three hours to take a shower and drink some water before you have to be in your car to make it by six.  No excuses.” 

Louis groaned again but knew his mother meant business.  It would be unacceptable for Louis to miss Christmas dinner and honestly he didn’t want to miss it either.  It was just that every year he told himself he wouldn’t drink too much and every year he woke up with a hangover and half his night missing from his memory.  His Christmas eve birthday parties had become a thing since he’d started working for IHeart and every year seemed to become a bigger spectacle. 

He listened to his mother ramble off more warnings and threats until his phone died from being left unplugged all night.  It took a lot of effort to even crack his eyes open and found himself staring at a Christmas tree toppled over onto the floor.  He hadn’t even made it to his bedroom. 

The sweater he was still wearing was hot and itchy and his skin irritated from sleeping with his face pressed against tinsel all night.  His leggings had ridden down his hips but thankfully still high enough to cover his dick since he’d gone without underwear to avoid lines in the skin tight pants that showed off his omega curves.  He also felt a little sticky between his cheeks and shoved a hand down his pants just to make sure he hadn’t bent over for an alpha he didn’t remember. Thankfully not enough slick for that. 

“Fuuuuuuuck,” he groaned and forced himself to sit up even though his head pounded and the whooshing rush of blood took over his hearing in the rhythm of his heartbeat.  

There was a partially full water bottle sticking out between the couch cushions and he chugged it down, not even caring whose it had been.  He was parched and didn’t have long to get himself together before the long drive to his childhood home to celebrate with his family. His car was already pre-loaded with wrapped gifts and an overnight bag so he wouldn’t have to worry about it in his state.  He’d learned from experience that trying to do that with a nearly lethal hangover was one of the worst decisions of his life. 

Every inch of his body itched and he cursed his sweater party idea as he ripped his over his head and dropped it to the floor.  The batteries popped out of the battery pack as it made impact, the life sucked out of them after so many hours, anyway. It had just been the year when he’d finally said fuck it and embraced the idea that his birthday would always be overshadowed by Christmas.  

The year he’d landed his first position at IHeart, Louis had been hopeful and optimistic that moving to a different city meant he could finally start paying attention to the people wishing him happy birthday and, for the first time, he wanted to make a big deal about it.  Being born on the shoulder of holiday, he’d only ever seen family or a few friends on the day which had never given him much room to hope. 

With a new pool of people, Louis hoped that a fresh faced alpha– or beta or omega, Louis was open minded after all– wishing him Happy Birthday would finally be his soulmate and they would live happily ever after.  He outdid himself throwing his own birthday party every year, justifying the seemingly self-centered act with the words that were wrapped around his arm like the stripes of a candy cane. They were big and obnoxious in stretched out cursive which had always led Louis to believe that he would meet his soulmate in an extravagant, bold, or dramatic way.  He’d stubbornly worn an “It’s my birthday!” button pinned to his shirt every time he had gone out in public when he was a kid just hoping that the right person would wish him a happy one and make all his dreams come true. Luckily, he had grown out of that phase and realized it would have to come naturally. 

Obviously, that meant making sure massive amounts of people knew it was his day and luring them all to one place to make it easier to find that special person that would carry him off into the sunset.  

Over his twenty-seventh year, though, Louis had grown bitter.  He was another rotation of the earth closer to thirty and he was done helping the universe out.  He knew massive amounts of people and had made insane connections and his party had become The Party that anybody who was somebody attended if they were in town, yet he still hadn’t managed to find The One.  The size of his house had grown with the effort and money he invested, drunken networking apparently much more successful than he’d ever realized. But that wasn’t the point. 

He’d stubbornly canceled his annual birthday party nearly a year ago in the early hours of January first, his New Year’s resolution being to stop trying to find his soulmate.  His friends had laughed and taken it as a joke until Thanksgiving when the invitations and emails failed to go out. It became such a  _ thing _ that Louis had finally given in and thrown together the biggest non-birthday party he could manage.  

He’d hired a company to decorate every inch of his house in stereotypical Christmas fashion and hired caterers to bring in Christmas themed foods.  The invitations had gone out with the very specific sweater and gaudy holiday accessory dress code and the party had gone on. 

It had gone so well that Louis started thinking about Christmas themes for the next year as he dragged his feet through green and red glitter and shiny remnants of tinsel on his way up to his bedroom.  He was never going to be able to get the glitter out of his carpet. 

Louis was only feeling just slightly better when he slid himself into his car for his drive.  Freshly showered and so full of water he was sure he’d be making a stop every fifteen minutes, he started up the engine and backed down his drive.  The front of his house and yard looked so messy in the light of day without the darkness to hide all the cords and he knew he’d be calling the service back to tear everything down first thing in the morning.  

He was still so itchy as he continued his drive, scratching at his arm through his hoodie so frequently that he was sure he was scratching his skin raw.  He vowed never to wear a sweater again and hoped his mom would have some lotion or benadryl or some other suggestion to stop the urge to scratch himself to death.  

The sun was already starting to hang low in the sky when he finally made it home, pulling up into the drive and beeping his horn a few times to get everyone’s attention.  It worked and his siblings poured out to greet him, happily carrying in all the presents in excitement without realizing Louis had tricked them into doing all the work. He smirked to himself as he followed them up the steps with just his overnight bag in hand.  

“Jesus, it’s hot in here,” Louis grumbled as he pulled his hoodie off and tossed it on top of his bag he’d set by the door.  

“Language,” his mom scolded with a disapproving glance and then smiled as she patted his cheek and then gave him a warm hug.  “It’s good to see you joining the world. Happy birthday, baby boy.” 

Louis didn’t even pull away from the kiss he received on his cheek and joined the rest of the family where they were already setting the table for Christmas dinner.  

“Saved you a spot next to me!” Ernie spoke up and tapped the empty seat between the twins.  Louis laughed and made his round of hugs on the way over, still scratching at his skin between greetings.  

“Louis!  Your arm!” Lottie exclaimed with wide eyes and nearly dropped the dish of green bean casserole she was holding.  

“Yeah the sweater I was wearing last night really did me in.  I’ve been scratching for hours,” Louis sighed. 

Lottie set the dish down and rushed around table to grab his arm and pull it closer to her face.  “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!!” 

Louis frowned in confusion when she sounded genuinely upset about not telling her about his itchy arm and looked down to where her thumb was brushing over his soulmark.  His lungs cut his air off with a sputtering cough, eyes nearly bulging out of his head as everything registered. 

The words that had twisted around his arm in black script since he had been born were now a deep red that stood out against his winter pale skin.  He didn’t even have a response as he stared at his arm with as much shock as his sister. 

He had met his soulmate and he didn’t even remember.  

 

⛄⛄⛄

 

“The Grinch is here!” 

Harry laughed as he came through the door with his bags of gifts, kicking it shut behind him.  

“Ha. Ha. Very funny.”  He shook his head and hung his coat and scarf on the coat tree just inside before he turned to greet his sister with a warm hug.  “Nice to see you too Cindy Lou Hoo.” 

It was too easy for Gemma to poke fun of him when her soulmark had been so oddly specific that there had been no way to anticipate when they would meet.  “My arm isn’t long enough for that” was written in compact letters on the inside of her elbow and had been exactly what her alpha had said to her when trying to rescue her keys that had fallen into a storm drain.  It had only been a year since they’d met and Harry would only admit to himself that he was massively jealous. It wasn’t fair that he’d been stuck with something so common instead of some ambiguous collection of words.  

“Come on, mom’s going crazy and needs someone to peel the potatoes.”  

Every year they always put together a meal with far too much food for their small family, but it never stopped them from doing it.  It was Harry’s favourite part of Christmas, the only good part of Christmas maybe. They all ended up in the kitchen doing some part of the work and by the end they had a feast.  

“Harry!” his mom smiled and held out her flour covered hands while she leaned in to kiss his cheek.  “I didn’t think you’d get here so early.” 

“Couldn’t sleep so headed out sooner than I expected.”  

He went straight for the deep sink where the potatoes were already piled in a bowl and got to work.  He’d already scrubbed the dirt off several potatoes when his bracelets started to slow him down. With the water still running, he undid the clasp and rested them safely on the window ledge above the sink.  It was only his family, anyway. There was no need to hide his mark when they were around. 

He grabbed another potato and cupped it in his hand while he moved it under the stream of water from the faucet.  He went to scrub away the clinging dirt and froze in place while he tried to decide whether or not he was hallucinating.  It was possible that was happening or maybe he’d had a stroke or was still in bed having the most mundane dream of his life.  

His thumb moved over his skin but water didn’t wash away what he was seeing nor did it alter his vision.  The letters of his soulmark had brightened into a very festive shade of red that put Santa’s suit to shame.  He was so baffled that he just stared at it like it would snap back to black the moment he looked away. 

“Earth to Harry??”

His sister hip checked him and he looked up at her with such a startled expression of shock that she dropped the playful act immediately.  

“What’s wrong?” she asked quickly and Harry could tell she was looking over him for signs of blood. 

Her gasp cemented his fears and the potato bounced against the sink as it dropped when she jerked his wrist towards her.  

“When did this happened?!” 

“I… I don’t—” 

His mother was hovering over them now, a gasp leaving her mouth as a hand rose to her chest.  

“Who was it??  Who slipped past your boycott??”  Gemma voice was high and fast, her fingers gripping his hand so hard it was starting to be painful.  It was the only thing grounding him to the moment or he’d still argue that it wasn’t real. 

Harry fish mouthed as his mind flashed through all the faces he had seen since the last time he remembered his mark being black.  Nameless strangers scrolled through in a loop but he already knew the answer. The only person he’d spoken to at the Not-Christmas birthday party aside from Niall was the only person he could remember wishing him a Merry Christmas.  He’d been too buzzed and annoyed to even recognize what had happened. In hindsight, he should have realized that the itch wasn’t just any old tick.

“You don’t know???” Gemma asked and Harry wondered why she was the one who seemed to be going into hysterics.  

“I went to this party last night?” Harry started, all of his thoughts moving slowly through his boggled mind like the slow drip of glycerin.  

“Oh my god!  How do you not know who it is!!”  His sister was quick to interject when his explanation didn’t come fast enough.  

“I  _ think _ I know who it is…”

Warm arms surrounded him and he melted into the embrace.  

“I’m so happy for you, Harry.”  His mom’s voice was comforting and calming which gave him the courage to glance down at the red script once again which now resembled the front of a holiday card.  

“It was a birthday party,” he supplied uselessly but it didn’t matter.  He’d met his soulmate and he’d been too stubborn to even realize it had happened.  

 

⛄⛄⛄

 

“And today since we always run the holiday shows a little differently than we normally do, I have one of my producers and good friend Louis Tomlinson in with me to co-host as we recap some of our most memorable moments of the past year.  Hello Louis, how are you?” 

“I’m doing great, Nick,” Louis leaned into the mic as he smirked across at his friend.  

Louis did most of the behind the scenes work for the weekend shows but occasionally liked to step into the spotlight or take some interviews just to spice things up.  When Nick had asked him to step into the studio with him earlier during his Thursday afternoon ramble, he hadn’t even hesitated before grabbing some headphones and taking a seat.  The last few days had been so draining and confusing for Louis that he was willing to find almost any distraction to take his mind off things. 

He had good chemistry with Nick– even as an mated alpha from a completely opposite background– and they spent most of the show bantering and debating over the bests and worsts for the year from music to fashion to memes.  

“Since we’ve reached a good number of online listeners at this point in the show, I figure now is as good a time as any to put our Tommo here on the spot,” Nick grinned across the desk at Louis and Louis flipped him off just because.  “As a lot of you know, Louis was born on a very unfortunate day.” 

“It’s a fine day, Nick.  I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Nick ignored him and kept talking.  “Every year we talk about Tommo’s massive birthday party that takes place on Christmas eve, the inconvenient day of his birthday.  Last week we were chatting with a few of our guests that would be attending, along with yours truly, and I figured now was a great time to give a recap of this year’s festivities!” 

“It was actually a Christmas party this year, Nick.”  Louis spoke calmly with his lips close to the mic. 

“That’s neither here nor there.  This year, some very interesting information came to light about why Tommo here throws the biggest party of the season.”  Louis groaned but Nick just smirked and kept talking. “It turns out that Tommo’s soulmark says Happy Birthday and so he puts on an event every year so he can finally meet The One.  A little self-indulgent, Tommo, don’t ya think?” 

Louis shook his head.  He was so going to feed Nick rut inducing brownies for this.  

“My birthday has always been overshadowed by Christmas since I was a kid.  I don’t see the harm in drawing a little attention to myself as an adult. Plus, this year it was an  _ actual Christmas party. _ ”  

“Sure, sure.  Whatever you say.  But this year, we have an exciting development in Tommo’s quest to find his soulmate!”

“Don’t you dare,” Louis’ tone changes from playfully annoyed to threatening, his glare shooting daggers across the desk at Nick who seemed absolutely delighted at finally being able to get a rise out of him.  

“Louis here woke up on Christmas morning with a massive hangover, a coloured soulmark and no memory of it whatsoever!”

Louis groaned and let his head fall to hide against his elbow.  

“All the effort spent on birthday parties every year trying to lure in his soulmate and then, when it happens, he can’t even remember who it is!  I’m not sure which is worse: the fact that your soulmate might be out there unable to remember you as well or that they purposefully haven’t come forward yet!  It’s been what, three days already??” 

Louis hovered in a state between heartache and the violent urge to jump across the desk and strangle Nick for broadcasting his embarrassing misery across the  United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and any other country hiding their location.  He was a nobody to the general public yet he was sure there would be entertainment news headlines about him around the world.  Soulmark stories were always a hot topic.

“I hope you’ve all enjoyed Nick’s show since this will be his last one after I’ve murdered him in the parking lot.” 

Nick just cackled and clapped his hands in delight that he’d finally been able to get Louis back for all the pranks he had pulled over the years.  Louis was not amused. 

“He is also highly exaggerating the facts of the events that took place during the party.”  

“If I’m lying then you shouldn’t have a problem introducing us to your soulmate!  Who is he then? She? Alpha? Ooooh is it another omega?”

Louis failed to keep his cheeks from turning red at being called out again.  Of course, he resorted to the most childish response by pulling his headphones off and stomping out of the room to the sound of Nick’s laughter.  The situation was bad enough as it was without Nick making fun of him live on air. 

It wasn’t like he hadn’t attempted to figure out who it was.  The biggest oversight was that there wasn’t a guest list beyond the people he already knew and he didn’t even know where to start.  To make matters worse, his hormones had already started to shift after his mark had been triggered which left him antsy and on edge.  It was going to be absolutely painful to go through his first post-soulmate heat without them there to get him through. He was running out of time.  

 

⛄⛄⛄

 

“Harry!” Niall invited himself into Harry’s office and planted him butt on top of his desk. It was his first morning back after taking a few days for himself back home and it felt as if Niall had been waiting for him.  

“I can’t believe you just left the party like that!  It was wild! You missed so much!” 

Harry tried to smile and play along but his inner turmoil was making it hard to focus on Niall’s energy.  

“Louis even met his soulmate, can you believe it??  And he was too wasted to remember who it is! Just heard them replaying the clip of him and Nick talking about it on the radio on my way in this morning.” 

Harry definitely hadn’t been drunk enough to forget who had coloured his mark, he had just been too oblivious to notice.  He pulled the sleeve of his sweater down further on his wrist and fidgeted with his bracelet. Though they had been friends for a while, Niall still didn’t know the specifics of Harry’s mark but it still made him paranoid.  

Of course Niall was giving him a perfect opportunity to ask where Louis lived or even for his last name since apparently he was well known enough to be on the radio.  It would be easy to bring it up even casually, but he felt frozen. The last few days had been torture trying to figure out what to do. It was too embarrassing that he hadn’t realized it had happened, even more so going over twelve hours before noticing.  He’d never hear the end of it which had stopped him from reaching out the moment everything clicked. 

It wasn’t as embarrassing as being too drunk to remember, though, so he did have that.  It still didn’t negate his side of the situation. Who knew how many people had heard it on the radio like Niall had.  If one side of the story was out, he could only imagine how much worse it would be once everyone put two and two together. 

“Yeah, well, should have watched how much he was drinking I guess,” Harry mumbled while his shame slowly boiled into irritation.  It was Niall’s fault he was in this situation to begin with. He hadn’t even wanted to go to the stupid birthday/Christmas party and now he had a soul mate who was apparently some wild and irresponsible omega that couldn’t even remember him.  

“And you left before the gingerbread house contest that ended up in this big food fight and it was so great!  You would have loved it!” 

“What about me hating Christmas do you not understand??” Harry gritted his teeth and fought not to raise his voice.  “Every year I make it perfectly clear that I don’t want anything to do with it and still you trick me into going to some huge Christmas party which is exactly where I don’t want to be and then come in here thinking I would have enjoyed it??”

Harry registered Niall’s shocked look somewhere in the back of his brain but he was too worked up to acknowledge it.  He needed to recheck his calendar, maybe he was close to his rut afterall. Or maybe it was just being stuck with a soulmate situation worse than having the words Merry Christmas on his arm to begin with.  

“Okay, fine!” Niall held his hands up in surrender and headed towards the door.  “You know, it might be easier to understand if you just explained why you hate Christmas so much.  It’s a little out of character for you compared with how you are the rest of the year.” 

Niall gave a final shrug and disappeared down the hallway leaving Harry to clench a pencil so hard it splintered in his hand.  He should have taken a few more vacation days to work everything out. 

The phone on his desk rang and he gritted out “What!?” before clearing his throat and answering with a more professional tone that surely sounded overly fake.  

“Harry Styles, how can I help?” 

“Harry!  Do you have time to work up a quick project needed ASAP?”  

He immediately felt bad for barking at one of their project coordinators who had one of the worst jobs trying to delegate everything efficiently.  

“I really really don’t right now, I just got back to the office and haven’t even gone through my email yet.  It would be at least tomorrow morning before I’d have a chance to take a look at it. I’m sorry.” 

“That’s okay, I’ll see if someone else has time.  I hope you had a merry Christmas!”

Harry flinched but forced out a “you too!” before resting the phone back in its cradle.  He couldn’t help the way his eyes shifted down to the hints of red peeking out from under his bracelets at the reminder and had the clasps unfastened before he even had time to comprehend what he was doing.  

His nerves buzzed just under the surface as he looked at it, tracing the letters lightly with the tip of his finger.  There was a deep longing that had lodged itself deep in his chest that already felt more intense than any bitter or lonely emotions he’d held onto when his mark had been black.  That was saying something when those had been the cause of his Scrooge act and boycotting of anything related to December 25th. He’d never paused to consider how finding his soulmate might change his view of the season.  It was so deeply ingrained in him after nearly three decades that he might be too far gone. 

With a sigh, he turned back to his email and knew he had a long day of taking down Christmas ads and themes and promotions for his clients ahead of him.  He really did love his job, he just wasn’t in the mood to think. 

One of the first emails in his inbox was from his sister and he frowned in confusion seeing it there and not in his person account.  He clicked it anyway and then wished he’d been attentive enough to notice his soulmark when he had been alone in the shower on Christmas morning instead of the audience of his family.  

 

_ I knew you wouldn’t check your other email until after work or whenever it is that you do but oh my god is this him??? _

 

He hovered over the link below her message and then clicked through before thinking better of it and then wished that he hadn’t.  

 

_ Too much Christmas cheer?   _ _  
_ _ IHeartRadio producer and personality Louis Tomlinson found out the hard way that hitting the Christmas spirits a little too hard cost him the memory of meeting his soulmate — and who it is!  As Nick Grimshaw recently revealed during his yearly recap show, Tomlinson woke on Christmas morning to find a coloured soulmark and no soulmate to go with it. Tomlinson, 28, is well known in the radio and music scene for his yearly Christmas Eve parties thrown to celebrate his birthday.  Having a soulmark that reads Happy Birthday, it’s no surprise that the day would be an important affair! Unfortunately, this year’s party might have been a little too enjoyable for Louis who woke up to a morning after mess a little more complicated than a trashed house. So who is this mystery guest?  Rumour has it his soulmate has yet to step forward. We’re biting our nails to see how this story plays out!!  _

 

Harry rolled his eyes at the gossip column already blasting the story out to the world and he was annoyed with himself and his sister for giving in to the click-bait.  At least he had a name and an age for the omega who looked about nineteen as he stood in front of Harry at the party in such an over the top outfit. He would have never guessed he was actually older.  

The urge to google his name was hard to resist and an hour later, he realized he was still scrolling through the results.  He couldn't’ help it. Outside of his Christmas-tainted memories, Louis seemed to be a decent person. His name was tied to a growing list of charities and omega outreach programs that dated back at least to his high school days.  Harry even recognized some pictures of him from an event his mom had helped organize a few years back. He wondered if maybe they had met. 

Louis wasn’t exactly hard on the eyes, either.  His Facebook profile was public and hosted hundreds of both professional and candid shots that took him on a journey through different haircuts and clothing styles that all seemed to suit him perfectly.  He had the appearance of a stereotypical male omega and from the looks of it, used that to his advantage. Harry had seen those curves in person and knew that nothing had been photoshopped. He’d never thought about being into a male omega before, but his mouth watered with the thoughts of getting his lips on Louis’ perfect skin and his hands on the globes of Louis’ ass.  

Harry was hard in his trousers before lunch break and no closer to having any actual work done.  

 

⛄⛄⛄

 

“You know I’m a reasonable guy.  I take it as much as I give it, I accept that, but this has got to stop.”  

Louis sat across from a representative from human resources, Nick Grimshaw and a handful of other decision makers that Louis barely knew.  

“Louis, I understand where you’re coming from, but this is great publicity!  The traffic to the Find Louis’ Soulmate site crashed it less than twenty minutes after it was announced!  People are eating this shit up!” 

Louis tried to take a calming breath while one of the suits talked.  It was all becoming a little too overwhelming and he was already so on edge that he could hardly control his bouncing leg and gnawed up lip.  

“I get where you’re coming from, I do.  You have to understand that this isn’t a staged story or something happening to a willing participant.  This is my actual life and I can’t remember who my actual soulmate it. Nick outed my story live on air without my permission– no offense, Nick, anything else to embarrass me is usually fair game– and now I’m having to deal with the consequences of the general public knowing while I’m trying to work through this very personal and confusing time in my life that is hard enough as it is.  I want this campaign to stop immediately.” 

He watched them all exchange looks with each other before coming to some type of silent agreement.  

“I’m afraid we can’t do that, Mr. Tomlinson.  The positive press has made a big impact on our ratings and advertisers.”  

“Are you fucking kidding me??” Louis asked incredulously with a gaping mouth. “Help me out here!” 

The HR representative barely flinched when he addressed her and he could already tell he was in the middle of a losing battle.  

“I’m sorry, but there are clauses in your contract that permit the use of your soulmark and any subsequent information relating to it as deemed necessary by IHeartRadio and any of its affiliates.” 

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Louis mumbled and deflated in his seat.  

“I’m really sorry, Louis.  I guess I didn’t think it through at the time or realize how true it was,” Nick offered and Louis could tell he genuinely felt guilty about it.  

“It’s fine,” he waved it off because what else could he do?  

Nick was his friend and in all honesty, Louis probably would have done the same if the roles had been reversed.  Louis even thought it would be funny if he’d heard the story from anyone else. It was just that it had been over two weeks and Louis still had absolutely no clue, not even any leads.  He’d gone through the most excruciating heat of his life alone, emerged to his story gone viral and still— nothing. Nothing credible, anyway. 

There were hundreds popping up with messages or stopping him on the street claiming to be The One– something that was easily debunked with just a glance.  He wasn’t sure why anyone would even attempt to claim to be his soulmate when there was such obvious proof. It didn’t even make sense which made it even more annoying every time someone hassled him in the Starbucks line or as he approached his car.  His social media was another story. His friend requests had maxed out and he’d been forced to disable his private messages on every platform. It was highly annoying and inconvenient since he used them to communicate with some of his actual friends and contacts.  It had all turned into such a mess. 

On top of everything, Louis hadn’t anticipated the emotional toll being separated from his soulmate would take on him.  His omega had already been on the needy side before and it only grew worse as the days passed by. He’d worked very hard to be where he was as an omega in his profession and he refused to let his situation invalidate everything he had built for himself.  It was starting to feel like things were crumbling around him and he was helpless to stop the cracks. The meeting that he’d called with everyone had been meant to control what he could. Instead, he’d discovered that he was in control of even less. 

Resigned and defeated, Louis got in his car to head across town for a photoshoot that felt like a key to making everyone’s life easier but his own.  

 

⛄⛄⛄

 

Harry felt like a zombie.  He walked through the hallways at work void of the bubbly greetings he usually scattered around the office.  His co-workers probably noticed but he wasn’t even tuned in enough to notice. 

It was just easier to shut down his brain than deal with the emotional pull of biology driving him insane.  He already had to deal with the physical side effects he couldn’t just wish away. Every part of his body seemed to ache from his skin to his joints and his rut had left him so frustrated and unsated that he’d nearly come out of it with an injury.  

It was also easier to ignore the fact that it was all his own fault as well.  

He knew he should have spoken up, asked Niall for information or even used his internet stalking for useful contact information.  It was just that he had worked himself up about it for so long that now it was past the point of just plain awkward. Exposing himself to Louis after so much time had passed meant accepting responsibility for everything that had happened since Christmas morning and he just wasn’t ready to that.  His anxiety had forced him to push it off “just another day” so many times that the hole he had dug himself into was now nearly the size of the Grand Canyon. 

The guilt of the predicament had caused him to itch the skin around his soulmark raw, an action that made it nearly impossible for him to cover his mark with his bracelets.  He attempted to wear long sleeve shirts to cover it but generally had started avoiding most people anyway. Anyone who knew him could immediately tell something was up and he was tired of trying to explain his behaviour and appearance away with flimsy excuses.  

Harry looked down at his phone and declined yet another phone call from his sister.  He had run out of excuses for his family as well but knew it was only a matter of time before they descended on him to force contact.  They were just like that and usually he appreciated it. 

He stopped at reception to pick up his mail just as his phone started to buzz yet again.  Gemma really wasn’t making it easy to ignore her but he supposed that was the point. 

“You.” The word was a low growl that stopped Harry dead in his tracks and caused him to be aware of his surroundings for the first time in days.  Phone still buzzing in his hand, his eyes didn’t have to search long before focusing on the source that had a finger clearly pointed directly at him.  

Even with the ice cold bucket of recognition being dumped over him, he still had the urge to glance around to make sure it wasn’t someone behind him that was being addressed.  He refrained. His wide eyes stayed glued to the one and only Louis Tomlinson standing in the middle of their small waiting area. 

“You.” Louis growled again and began stalking forward with the most intimidating expression Harry had ever seen on an omega’s face.  Harry could do nothing but stand there like he’d seen a ghost while he came closer until he could jab his extended finger right into the middle of Harry’s chest.  It somehow was enough to knock him off balance in his shocked state and he stumbled backwards, the solid reception desk keeping him upright.

“You wished me a happy birthday,” Louis eyes narrowed with his accusation and jabbed his finger into Harry’s chest again.  

“I… uh–” Harry stuttered, unable to form words.  Of all the ways he imagined them eventually meeting, being caught off guard and called out had foolishly not been one of them.  Just Louis’ scent alone was enough to have him speechless as it wrapped around him and settled the building anxiety within him now that his soulmate was close.  

“So you DID know!” Louis grabbed his wrist and twisted it palm up, yanking his sleeve up at the same time.  Louis huffed out an indignant laugh once he’d read Harry’s coloured soulmark. “Figures that the first year I throw an actual Christmas party and that’s the first thing I said.”  

“What are you doing here?” Harry finally managed to ask and then immediately regretted the question.  

“What am I doing here??  I’m here for some stupid photoshoot for some campaign to find YOU because my personal life is apparently good publicity all because YOU didn’t come forward!!” 

“Woah woah woah.  Hold up,” Harry snapped back into himself and straightened to his full height.  “You do not get to blame this whole thing on me! You don’t even remember any of it!!”

“Well excuse me for enjoying my birthday!!” Louis screamed at him and Harry could see that they had attracted an audience gathering in his peripheral vision. 

“I thought it was a Christmas party,” Harry couldn’t help but throw in the snide remark that made Louis’ nostrils flare in anger.  

“That’s apparently not what you thought if you were wishing me a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!” 

Louis voice echoed through the lobby and suddenly Niall was between them and stretching his arms out to keep them apart.  

“I don’t know what the fuck is going on but I’m sure you don’t want the whole building in on it.”  

Niall steered them both towards his office and pushed them each down in a chair before closing the door.  

He walked perched himself on the edge of his desk in front of them and then started, “So, what the fuck?”  

“This knothead wished me a happy birthday and then fucked off.” Louis huffed with his arms crossed over his chest like a bratty child.  

Niall looked back and forth between them, obviously confused and waiting for more information.  

“At the party you tricked me into attending,” Harry supplied, “I wished him a happy birthday while he wished me a merry Christmas.”  

Niall still looked lost.  “And…?” 

Harry sighed with an eye roll as he pulled up his sleeve and exposed his mark.  Louis did the same and for the first time Harry could see that the shades of red matched.  

“So that’s why you hate Christmas,” Niall nodded and laughed like the whole world now made sense.  “So what’s the problem? Go live happily ever after or whatever.” 

“This asshole thought it a better idea to disappear.”  Louis grumbled. 

“Excuse me, you didn’t even remember it happening and by the time I realized it, I was already home for Christmas.  Then you had to go broadcasting it all over the world and what was I supposed to do? Call in and say I was stupid enough to not even know what happened right away??” 

“Yes!!  You were supposed to do exactly that so then I could stop being the asshole that couldn’t remember!!” 

“Okay hold up again.  Harry, you knew when I was telling you about that and you didn’t tell me?”  Niall looked hurt. 

“I was embarrassed and you kept going on about it and I didn’t have a way to tell you without it being weird.”  

Harry knew his excuses were weak but they were all that he had.  He chanced a look over at Louis who seemed more subdued than he had been even a few minutes before.  

“Look, I know alright?  I know. This isn’t exactly the way I imagined things going either.” 

“I guess we both should have figured we wouldn’t have some fairytale story with our marks,” Louis finally sighed beside him.  “Can we just tell everyone so I don’t have to follow through with this stupid photoshoot and  _ find Louis’ soulmate _ shit?”

“Can we do that without saying who it is?  Because I really don’t want my name in all these articles and everything.”  

“That’s fucking rich.  You could have avoided that if you would have just said something oh, I don’t know, the next day!?”

“Okay kids stop!”  Niall intervened again.  “Harry, sorry but you made your bed, buddy.  Louis, it would be helpful if you could drop the hostility.  Now both of you go kiss and make up or whatever.” 

Harry looked over at Louis who was already looking back at him.  

“You’re hot enough, I guess,” Louis shrugged, “Could be worse.”  

 

⛄⛄⛄

 

Of all the times and places Louis could have found his soulmate, it had to be in the height of his irritation over the whole situation.  Now, tucked away in the calm quiet of Harry’s office, it didn’t feel quite as monumental. Harry was typing away at his keyboard and Louis was sitting across from him taking inventory of all the items on his desk.  It looked more like the top of the dresser in one of his sister’s room rather than a grown alpha’s work space. Cupcake stress ball, cup of coloured gel pens, and… a pink rhinestone calculator?

Louis picked it up and raised a brow, waiting patiently to grab the alpha’s attention.  

“Yes?” Harry asked and sounded a tad bit annoyed.  

“Is this someone else’s desk that you’re borrowing?” 

“No?  Do you have a problem with it?” Harry sat back from his keyboard with a challenging look.  

“No, course I don’t.  Just, for an alpha…” 

“For an alpha what?  For someone so involved in changing omega stereotypes you seem pretty closed minded about other genders.”  

Harry huffed and turned back to his keyboard while Louis stared across in shock.  Harry knew about his work? 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean– I just– You know what I do?” 

“You have a strong online presence.  It wasn’t very difficult to google you.”  

“You googled me?”  

Louis couldn’t help but be at least a little surprised.  He’d had himself convinced that his soulmate didn’t want anything to do with their bond and to find out it was the opposite was a little surprising.  

“Yeah?  It wasn’t that I didn’t  _ want _ to know you, it was just a weird situation.”

Louis’ inner omega preened.  It wasn’t much but it was more than he’d had since his mark had turned.  He scooted his chair close enough to rest his elbows on the desk and looked across at his soulmate, really looked at him, for the first time.  He could agree that their situation had been weird from the start but he didn’t want it to negate their future. 

“So, about us.” Louis started and counted it as a small victory when Harry stopped typing and turned to give Louis his full attention.  “I’ll admit I always fairytale expectations about how this was going to go. Obviously that hasn’t happened so I’m a little out of my element here.  So let’s just be straight with one another. Are you interested in figuring this out or were you looking for a way out?” 

Harry ran a hand over his face and then pulled his chair closer.  

“I’m really sorry for how this all happened.  I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder about Christmas because of my mark and I let that overshadow everything so far.  I was so pissed that Niall had tricked me into going to a Christmas party that it was probably why none of the signs registered at the time.  That was my fault even though you really were too drunk to say more than a few works to me.” Harry laughed and it made Louis feel at least a tad bit better about blacking out their meeting. “But honestly I’ve always wanted this.  I didn’t pursue relationships outside of my mark and was just playing the waiting game. We both kind of cocked this up but I was never looking for a way out.” 

“You weren’t?”  Louis asked hopefully.  

“I know what it looks like but I assure you that wasn’t it at all.  I really do want to try this out.” 

Louis smiled and reached across the desk to take one of the alpha’s hands.  With a little squeeze he could already feel the connection that he had been craving, that he’d been missing.  Little by little, he was starting to feel like everything just might turn out alright. 

“I do to.”  

**Author's Note:**

> [Here's a fic post if you enjoyed! Merry Christmas!](http://jaerie.tumblr.com/post/181393828667/merry-birthday-10k-abo-by-jaerie-harry-styles)


End file.
